Jimmy Snuka
In January 1982 Snuka entered the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as a villainous character under the guidance of Captain Lou Albano. Snuka lost several title shots at WWF Champion Bob Backlund, including a steel cage match at Madison Square Garden on June 28, 1982 in which Snuka leapt from the top of the cage, barely missing Backlund who managed to escape the cage for the win. Even though Snuka was a villain, the Northeast fans started to cheer on Snuka and his athletic style. An angle was created late in the year which revealed- on an episode of Buddy Rogers' Victory Corner- that Snuka was being financially ripped off by Lou Albano, thus releasing Snuka from Albano's managerial services. Albano then attacked Snuka with the help of "Classy" Freddie Blassie's newest arrival, Snuka's former tag team partner Ray Stevens. The attack solidified Snuka's new role as a fan favorite seeking to settle the score. Snuka brought in his former manager from the Mid-Atlantic territory, "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers and embarked on a mixture of tag and singles matches against Stevens and Albano across the region. Snuka also feuded with "Magnificent" Don Muraco in 1983, which began after Snuka entered the ring for a preliminary match while Muraco, the Intercontinental Champion, was being interviewed. Muraco, enraged at the perceived lack of respect, confronted Snuka at ringside, triggering a wild brawl. This feud led to a defining moment of Snuka's career on October 17, 1983, in a steel cage match at Madison Square Garden. The match ended in a loss for the Superfly, but afterward he dragged Muraco back into the ring and connected with the most famous Superfly Splash of his career, off the top of the 15-foot (4.6 m) high steel cage. In June 1984, Snuka became embroiled in an intense feud with one of the WWF's top villains, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. In a segment of Piper's Pit, Piper brought bananas, pineapples, and coconuts to the interview to make Snuka "feel more at home" but said he did not get a tree for Snuka to "climb up and down like a monkey." Piper then proceeded to smash a coconut on his head when he turned his back momentarily. The attack led to a series of grudge matches between the two that were played out over venues across the US throughout the summer of 1984. The remainder of Snuka's initial WWF stint would see him frequently tangling with Piper one way or another, often via tag matches or wrestling Piper's closest ally, Bob Orton, Jr. Snuka defeated Orton at The War to Settle the Score and put Orton's left arm in a cast for over a year. The feud played a small part in the first ever WrestleMania in March 1985, when Snuka acted as a cornerman for Hulk Hogan and Mr. T when they faced Piper and Paul Orndorff (with Orton in their corner). The Superfly vanished from the WWF in August 1985. Snuka re-emerged in the WWF at WrestleMania V on April 2, 1989. He made his televised return to action on the May 27 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, defeating Boris Zhukov. Soon after, Snuka began a feud with The Honky Tonk Man, which started with Honky being upset that an interview segment with Snuka and Mean Gene Okerlund interrupted his singing following a victory. Snuka would eventually hit a flying body press off of the interview platform onto Honky on the floor. Two weeks later, as Snuka was being interviewed on the Brother Love Show, Honky's manager Jimmy Hart distracted Snuka long enough for Honky to hit him over the head with a guitar. This led to a few months of matches between the two on house shows, which usually saw Snuka come out victorious. At SummerSlam '89, Snuka made his in-ring pay-per-view debut against "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. Snuka lost the match by count-out thanks to interference from DiBiase's bodyguard Virgil, though he gained a measure of revenge after the match by knocking DiBiase to the floor and hitting Virgil with the Superfly Splash. By the later part of 1989, Snuka was put into a spot like many veterans before him, being used to help put over other rising stars such as "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig. At the Survivor Series, Snuka and Hennig were each the final remaining members of their opposing teams, with Hennig pinning Snuka to win the match for his team. In January 1990, Snuka made his Royal Rumble match debut, lasting over 16 minutes and eliminating two competitors before being eliminated by the eventual winner, Hulk Hogan. Snuka had his first WrestleMania match at WrestleMania VI, where he was defeated by Rick Rude. When the Intercontinental Championship was vacated after WrestleMania, Snuka entered the tournament to crown a new champion. He would be eliminated in the first round when he once again lost to Mr. Perfect. Snuka then remained in the undercard until that November's Survivor Series, where he joined Jake Roberts and The Rockers in a losing effort against Rick Martel, The Warlord and Power and Glory. On March 24, 1991, Snuka was defeated by The Undertaker at WrestleMania VII, beginning his legendary undefeated streak at the event. Snuka spent the remainder of the year in house show undercards, rarely being used on television. In January 1992, he competed in the Royal Rumble for the vacant WWF Championship, but only lasted 3 minutes before being eliminated by The Undertaker. Snuka left the WWF soon after. He was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1996. He would make periodic appearances for the WWF, such as competing at the 1996 Survivor Series. Snuka received a lifetime achievement award from WWE (formerly the WWF) in 2002 at Madison Square Garden and began to be thrust into skits by WWE in 2004/2005. In 2005, he appeared at the WWE Homecoming, where he delivered a Superfly Splash to Rob Conway with a ring full of legends at his side like Dusty Rhodes and Billy Graham. He also took part in a backstage skit, chasing after a partially disrobed Mae Young with a wad of Ted DiBiase's money. He was a part of the Taboo Tuesday pay-per-view, where fans voted for him (ahead of Kamala and Jim Duggan) to team with Eugene against Rob Conway and Tyson Tomko. Snuka won the match, pinning Conway after a Superfly Splash. A year later he appeared at the 2007 WWE draft edition of Raw in a vignette for Mr. McMahon appreciation night. On June 24, 2007, Snuka was introduced as Sgt. Slaughter's tag team partner in the open invitational match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Vengeance, but he was ultimately pinned by his son. In 2008, Snuka appeared in the Royal Rumble. He was in the match less than 5 minutes and primarily focused his efforts on onetime nemesis, Roddy Piper. Both were quickly eliminated by the next entrant, Kane. On the March 2, 2009, edition of Raw, he was attacked by Chris Jericho during a parody of Piper's Pit. This was part of a storyline where Jericho was disrespecting and attacking legends. Two weeks later on the March 16, 2009, Raw, Snuka, Roddy Piper, Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat attacked Jericho. It was announced that at WrestleMania XXV on April 5, 2009, Snuka would be teaming with Steamboat and Piper to face Jericho in a Legends of Wrestlemania Handicap match. Flair was also in their corner. Snuka was the first eliminated by Jericho, who eventually won the match. On November 15, 2010, Snuka made an appearance on an "old school" edition of Raw, where he stood by his daughter Tamina, in the corner of The Usos during their match against Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov. Category:WWE Hall Of Fame Category:Managers Category:Male professional wrestlers Category:Deceased